h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Over on another thread, which I shall stay out of because talking about Broadway musicals would be inappropriate when attached to Willem's painting of a wolverine...

Paul and Willem were talking about 'Les Miserables'. Willem pointed out that 'Les Miserables' wouldn't be too bad if it weren't for the music. I said everybody should read the book and leave that miserable musical alone.

Over here at the Post Office, I went on a rant to Elektra about how some of those Broadway musical composers are eejits when it comes to picking subject matter. Politics and highly nuanced historical arguments don't belong on musical stages, blah blah, unless, of course...you're Stephen Sondheim...

When it comes to Sondheim, all bets are off. He can compose around a pointilist painting, or a penny dreadful, or anything he chooses...even assassins. He always has something to say, both philosophically and musically.

So I played her this song about John Wilkes Booth. Victor Garber is singing the Booth part.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmVjAMm1ryA

It occurred to me that Sondheim had a lot to say about, well, the current situation.

Take this song 'Unworthy of Your Love'. Here, it's being sung by John Barrowman and Ruthie Henshall.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPBhLu3P4_s

Sounds very romantic, right? Except that it's being sung by John Hinckley and Squeaky Fromme.

'Everybody's Got the Right to Their Dreams' sounds like it could be an editorial on a certain news programme these days...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoLG_fz7FeU

Here's a song that was cut from the musical. It's about flags...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TV5cwSx6qrM

There's a bootleg Broadway video if you can stand it. It has subtitles.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vS2a6XwpVHc

Offered as a public service for our non-US Researchers as a possible gloss.

Cannot abide musicals, and that's a shame as I live in a house of avid musical theatre lovers!

Closest I get to a musical are Vampires Rock and Bat out of Hell....no surprises there then!

Isn't Hamilton about your political history? (not that I care)

Anyhoo thanks for the rant related education, off to appreciate the wolverine...

I only dislike *most* musicals - good ones are scarcer than hen's teeth. Sondheim's as good a composer as any who produced operas. He does clever, clever things, musically - and his stories are worth consideration. Shame you don't like them: Henry Letterbox would enjoy 'Sweeney Todd'.

If people in your family get involved in musicals, it isn't a question of liking or disliking them...I once got stuck in a production of 'Damn Yankees', in the chorus, in summer...the a/c went out on stage...this was in the South...and I still had to sing 'You Gotta Have Heart', which is a miserable song.

You would actually like 'Damn Yankees'. It's about the devil and a woman named Lola. Okay, it's also about baseball, but you can't have everything. And yeah, the music is awful...

'Hamilton' pretends to be about history. I'm not convinced.

Good point about family, we have sat through many many drama club musicals, I thoroughly enjoyed them (well, the bits my girl was on stage!) Some lovely old theatres to gawk at too.

Aha! You get it! It's supposed to be live entertainment. And then you get caught up in it.